The Bike Gangs Used Fire

A war photo a day #11

David Axe photo The Bike Gangs Used Fire A war photo a day #11 Eight years. Seven wars. More death and destruction than I...

David Axe photo

The Bike Gangs Used Fire

A war photo a day #11

Eight years. Seven wars. More death and destruction than I care to recount. I’ve been covering armed conflict since 2005. Every battlefield has its stories … and its unforgettable images. Follow me through my career at war, one jarring, haunting or sublime photo a day until I run out.

Almost no one noticed, but as the Iraq War raged and Somalia descended deeper into darkness, in the spring of 2007 East Timor—then the world’s newest and poorest country—celebrated its independence from oppressive Indonesia with its first presidential election.

It was a macabre and violent vote, with street gangs from both major parties clashing in the streets with spears and slingshots. I chased the gangs’ motorcycle cavalry through the capital of Dili, always arriving just as the battles ebbed and Australian peacekeepers deployed to clean up the burning wreckage.